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March 1
I got the closet nest. Aurora has the washer. She didn't want her food last night and sat out on the shelf over mom crying because she did want to eat. Mom tried butter milk but no go. Then Aurora crept out onto the other shelf and ate what I had left of my blue cheese.

Aurora hasn't wanted to touch blue cheese since she first got ill over a year ago. Mom was shocked but she gave Aurora a cup of blue cheese. she made a mess of it but did eat what didn't get spread all over. Tonight mom made some fresh food with blue cheese mixed in and can try topping it with blue cheese too.

Mom is also planning a sneak attack tonight before we get up to put some sage into her to try and jump start her appetite a bit more.

The
force feed(drink?) of sage tea worked well. Mom sneak attacked Aurora
while in the washer and grabbed her snout while she still had her head
upside down and stuck the short tube in. Aside from a little slimy tea
laced spit 5cc of strong tea down her. She surprisingly wasn't phased
and curled back up. Maybe she remembers it helping last time or maybe
she just remembers mom leaves her alone once the force feed is done.

Aurora
was waiting for mom when she got up to put the soup out. She came over
interested but recoiled at the smell of blue cheese. Guess the night
before was just a fluke. So to be sure mom put out a bowl of blue cheese
flavored soup and a bowl of buttermilk with some soup mixed in. She ate
a bit of the buttermilk soup.

Aurora has her period so that
could be part of her deciding not to eat but she's been super picky and
on and off her food for awhile now so moms a bit on edge about it. Mom
will sage her again tonight. At the very least it gives her a decent
dose of vitamin K so we don't wind up with bleeding issues on top of not
eating well.

Pua: So "tea time" did not go well tonight. Spit out and hands shoved
away. I've tried telling her pinching is more effective but she has
never raised a claw to mom. On the plus side all that fight is a good
sign. Maybe the bit of food she did eat last night did her some good.
She has currently run off to hide in the hut. I tried my best to ignore the whole thing. I need my beauty rest.

Actually there was no crying or growling she was just all "get that *bleeping* stuff away from me!"

So mom didn't force the issue tonight but if Aurora takes no food
tonight mom can get more forceful with the force feed of herbal tea
tomorrow night because we know it does help.

The
weird thing about Aurora is she acts like she would like to eat but
that all the offerings are unappetizing. Aurora returned to the closet
and mom brought a cup of the good yogurt and told her to come see as she
brought something amazing. Aurora came sniffed it and returned to
hiding in the hut in disgust.

She has since returned to the
closet with me and had a nice large drink on the way. We'll see how she
feels at her usual wake later wake up time.

Pua's
mommy: We have a good vet but she's no tamandua expert she relies on my
knowledge a lot. I think last time we pushed too hard with the vet care
and did more harm than good. In the end the sage tea got her eating
then. But we were worried as she'd not been eating for a month or so at
that point we first went to the vet. Tamandua can go a long time without
eating since they can slow their metabolism greatly and the stress of
the vet can do more harm than good. It was around 2 months of not eating
except little bits from force feeding her when we tried the tea and it
worked. If the less aggressive measures fail we can see the vet for some
tests but they normally don't shed much light.

We
tried antibiotics last time since her lungs looked a bit icky but it
didn't help and the vet said it can look that way from age if she is old
like we think. We might wind up trying that again if her lungs look
icky still/again. There's a better one used on anteaters before for
pneumonia but again the lungs may be incidental and just always look
that way. We tried a steroid supposed to increase appetite and used for
pneumonia patients safely. That was an ugly result. We were lobbing
grenades into the dark with meds hoping to hit the cause. Not ideal but
sometimes it's all you have. She's not that bad off this time(yet).
Getting a B-12 shot might be the best first vet step along with tests if
we get that far with no improvement.

We have an order of the good ants waiting at the PO today though she's never been a big ant fan. She's a picky thing.

I don't think it's an obstruction though she may be constipated at this point which wont help. She is able to eat. We did do chest x-rays last time along with blood work. Since then she's occasionally got off food for a bit but giving in and adding yogurt always got her going again till now.

She did eat blue cheese last night but only the good stronger smelling stuff. She carefully licked the blue cheese topping off the blue cheese flavored soup but left the soup and ate any blue cheese I gave her on the side as well. So seems to be a smell/taste issue.

At one point she actually came running to me from across the room when she saw me get up to see if I was putting out anything good. She drank a lot of water.

We wanted to have her in this spring for blood work to get a read on her but preferably we wanted while she wasn't in crisis as the not eating can throw the levels off all by it's self but if she doesn't improve soon we can bring her in for tests and would most likely treat for possible respiratory infection again. I also would like her to be done with her period first too as extra stress while bleeding makes me nervous. They are very prone to bleeding issues especially if already stressed by an illness.

I've not noticed any nasal discharge but she is acting like a an ill
cat, needing stronger smelling food to have any interest. The problem is
she is very limited in what she will eat even when well so we don't
really have anything special to pull out of the fridge for her. Did
buy some of the expensive blue cheese today in hopes it's smellier and
enticing. $22 a pound. You better like it Aurora.

Mom
thought maybe it would be easier to give Aurora some herbs during the
day but that didn't work and she left the washer for the closet. Mom
gave her a break and tried again in the closet. Aurora got fed up and
started growling so I tried putting a hand on her to calm her down. That
didn't help so then I attacked her. I didn't hurt her but I was
confused about her fight with mom and had to pick a side. We're all
settled back in now.

Aurora is now set to piggy back with
Beaker Wednesday as he already had an appointment for his check up and
vaccination. Most likely it will be a blood test to rule out other
issues and antibiotic for possible respiratory infection.

Aurora
licked the good blue cheese topping off her blue cheese soup but left
the soup alone. She is surprisingly good at that. She took a wee bit of
the buttermilk soup and spilled the ant cups all over. Mom stuffed a
hole in our claw log with ants and they are all gone now.

Aurora must have eaten them because I have deemed those ants yucky. They
were sold as red and black ants but they smell different and are less
sticky than normal. I don't know if the species is different or if it's
the time of year but yuck. Are there no tasty ants left in this world?

Mom
snatched Aurora from the washer with little fuss. She was hot and
sweaty but she did not have a tempt at the vet. She was 95.6 so a high
normal. Normal is 93-95. I'm always 93.5 myself.

Pua's Mommy:
Aurora does have a full colon so we will start her on a mild laxative
tonight and hope getting things moving gets things going in again.
Aurora was hissing and growling the whole time so we are unsure
how her lungs actually sound. So we have started her on naxcel as it's a
strong antibiotic used in anteaters before and is best for pneumonia in
them.

We did also pick up Mirtazapine which is an anti-anxiety
and depression pill in people but used as an appetite stimulant in
cats. This would be an experimental drug though since we have no history
of it being used in anteaters and we will hold off trying it awhile in
hopes pooping or the antibiotics get her eating first. It should be safe
but you never know when dealing with something as exotic as an
anteater.

Aurora
was just accosted and given her laxative but she spit half out. Mom has
now put a longer tube on the syringe to get it back further in her
mouth next time. It's a twice a day thing till she poops so I think a
half dose to start will be okay.

Oh
a little PS when they had Aurora flipped over to get blood(the tail
vein is the only way to do it) mom noticed she had a papilloma,
otherwise known a an old lady bump, on her butt. It's very common to see
in old dogs. Hyzzie has a few. Further evidence Aurora is a senior.

She doesn't like humans touching her. I'm different. The first time I had blood drawn I just did my best to sleep through it but the last time I fought a bit more. Mom's letting me smell her breath calmed me down though. Unfortunately she had to be manhandled. Mom and a tech holding her while the vet took blood. Will be a day or two to get results but it is important as it could shed some light, maybe at least rule out more dire things like liver and kidney issues which could be causing loss of appetite.

RE the struggle: It's
not too bad the main issue with her is her feet as she uses her back
claws to try and get away and those are sharp. She never really tries to
hurt anyone. She's not a very strong anteater either. Her arms are puny
compared to mine. Mom did try clicking at her. I happen to like that
but not sure if it helped Aurora any, maybe a bit. Just got to remember
not to sush us like you might a baby. Since we hiss when upset it's not a
sound we like.

She
was upset about the whole thing. She is a grumpy old soul. Playing
music on the drive helped calm her and she was nice and calm once she
was allowed to go back in her crate and for the ride home. She wasn't
too bad in between being handled either. She just curled up in a corner.
She even tried climbing down the tech once done with the draw off the
exam table but the tech trying to pick her back up caused some serious
growling, more so than the blood draw actually. Don't need no stranger
picking her up.

Yeah she didn't pace much once home and settle in next to Pua. I'm sure she'll sleep nice and late tonight.

I
suppose that could have gone worse. We are sleeping in the washer and
mom came to give Aurora her laxative. Boy was she fighting that and
growling up a storm. I finally put my hands on mom to say leave her
alone she said no. Mom backed off to avoid a fight breaking out.

So mom switched to the shorter tube again as she had better luck getting it into her tiny mouth. She pulled me from the washer
and gave me a treat to distract me. Oh and mom did have to don glove as
Aurora did pinch when mom kept trying after being warned though not
hard but she didn't want to take chances. After a bit more wrestling and
getting a flashlight to see a bit better mom managed to get the
laxative in. Mom also mixed her vit K supplement in.

After that
was done Aurora came out and fled to the closet but came right back and
we are both settled in the washer again. Little does she know she still
has a shot coming late this afternoon. That should actually be easier.

Aurora's
blood values are back and look okay. So it's possible the main issue is
constipation. We'll see once she poops if that brings her appetite
back. If that does turn out to be the case she may need to be kept on a
mild laxative as she has chronic issues with that. I poop every other
day she averages like once a week or more. Extra fiber has not helped
her.

So
about me, Middle of the night when mom got up to refresh soups and such
and she came over to me in my dinning area she pet me and I had a wet
bum. I had been trying to bath in my vinegar bowl but splashing it all
over the dinning mat didn't work so well so she poured the rest on the
washer for me and I had a nice bath.

It
feels good! In the wild ants and termites would spit on me as I raid a
nest. That's good for the skin. Birds know this. They will roll in a ant
nest or pick up ants and rub them under their feathers. Their behavior
is called Anting. Captive birds will use vinegar or booze if available to them. They don't drink it just get excited and rub it in their feathers. Ant and termite spit is acid and vinegar is acid. Not sure why booze does it for birds though.

Laxative
went smoother this time. Mom caught her off guard as she was laying
curled on her back. I think her eyes being covered by the blanket also
helped. Quick and painless. She didn't even get to hiss just sort of oh
oh what's happening nose puffs.

No poop yet
Aurora didn't get up until 6am but she did eat a tiny bit of blue
cheese. Mom is contemplating a bath. She doesn't like the idea of
stressing her more but on the other hand it often stimulates pooping.
She's not positive yet but it seems like it might be a good idea. She
could use one anyway but it has been put off so far for her claw to heal
first.

(someone was concerned about the cheese making things worse) Depends
on the type of cheese. Blue cheese is more likely to give you the runs
plus there is chia seeds and water mixed with it. The problem started
before hand anyway she only started taking cheese in the last few days.
She's around two weeks since a poop I think, bearing in mind her usual
schedule is once a week, Pua is every other day.

Aurora
chose a good place not to be disturbed. She had shoved her self in the
under bed drawer. She even moved some stuff in the drawer to the front
to barricade herself after mom first peeked at her.

The problem
is they are home made and the one spans the whole bed so to really be
able to pull it out would mean moving furniture around and we don't want
to hurt her. There was no way to get hold of her head. Mom was able to
pull the corner of the drawer out half way and give her her shot though.
After that she has fled to the closet. She can relax awhile and then
get her laxative. Then she can flee somewhere else.

Aurora
seemed dehydrated yesterday so mom tried giving her some fluid
rectally(we can't do subQ unless on deaths door, among other issues we
have no loose skin) but there is a hard plug of poop in the way. Aurora
was greatly displeased about the attempts. However she looks more
hydrated than yesterday so she must have drank fairly well last night.

Still not eating though so mom gave her some coconut
oil(orally). This has about 7.5 calories per ML. Mom managed to get a
few ml into her but she spit some out too. Mom ordered benecal for her
and will be here Monday same caloric density so even 10 ml a day would
give her enough energy plus it has a bit of protein too.

In the mean time we've got to get that poop plug to move.

(There is much more said in the comments if you want more details click the date above to go to the comments)

Aurora
is still in need of pooping. She has been given the stool softener and
some vitamin c as that can increase gut motility. She got a little more
coconut oil and mom decided to try the appetite stimulant. Fingers
crossed it works and has no adverse effects. Most likely adverse affect
is agitation though and some time later she is still curled up sleeping.

Anyway on the plus side the fluids did have her feeling better and more
energetic last night. She did show some interest in a bowl full of ants
until they were spilled then she would have nothing further to do with
them even once put back.

We got her some apple juice to try tonight as well. She liked that last time she was off food.

Mom stuck a heating pad in the washer with Aurora. A little heat never hurts.

Oh yeah I got the closet. Night before last I was feeling a bit blue
over Aurora not wanting to play so I begged mom to play and snuggle with
me. That was nice. I was cool last night though. I just wanted a bunch
of treats.

Think
the appetite stimulant is making Aurora relaxed. It was originally an
anti anxiety/depression drug in people but is used to stimulate appetite
in cats. Think it's having it's original effect on her. She moved away
from the heating pad finally and was laying on her back all chill like
in the washer.

The
appetite stimulant worked! Yay! Aurora was active and drank a lot of
buttermilk. We just had the most appetizing things out we could but we
can start adding food to that. Maybe start with some fiber to get things
moving. The appetite stimulant is mirtazapine 1/16th of a 30mg pill, can be given once every three days, cat dose (not advice just what we did talk to your vet, blah blah, legal jargon and such.) Important info since as far as I know she's the first tamandua to have tried it.

Some
lactulose and stool softener into Aurora and that will be the only time
we need to bug her today. I think I'll give her the heating pad back
since Pua has the closet again.

Got the benecal today. It
claims to be tasteless but is a little sweet. Not really noticeable when
mixed with the buttermilk though. I'll put that out and maybe add some
powdered oat bran but just a bit so it doesn't turn her off and put out
the buttermilk/soup food mix too tonight just in case she feels hungry
enough to jump back in rather than ween on but she normally goes slow
and doesn't like sudden changes.

Aurora
at 15 pounds down from 17. 2 pounds makes quite a difference in a small
animal. You can see she's not skinny but she has also lost muscle mass
and not just fat. Time to bulk up on the protein, Aurora.

I
promised not to bug Aurora but when I peeked at her she was just so
cute sleeping there I couldn't help but take a shot of course at that
moment she turned her head and gave me the evil eye.

Actually the white is sleep/eye-gunk, aka dried tears. They have white tears.

March 11

No poop yet but Aurora just came out onto the shelf over the desk and gave mom a look then farted real loud then went back to bed.

Aurora did get her buttermilk with benecal and powdered oat bran added last night. Mom's not sure if she ate some of the food/buttermilk soup or if it was just me. I used to think buttermilk was gross but since Aurora seems to like it I decided I would like it too now.

Mom
came to give Aurora her meds and boy did Aurora put up a fight. I tried
to calm the situation down by putting my hand on them but it wasn't
working. I was confused and thought mom was trying to snuggle Aurora so
once Aurora did get her meds and storm off to hide in the hut I grabbed
hold of mom and snuggled with her myself. I didn't want to let go. Mom
should sleep with me all day.

Mom
just gave Aurora her laxative and stool softener rectally. They both
said they can be given that way and it's less traumatic for her. The
softener also is supposed to work faster that way. Mom also stuck a
glycerine suppository up there to lube the way. Even so there was plenty
of hissing even before mom did anything.

Mom says it feels
like the poop has moved down lower since she last had her finger up her
bum. I bet mom never thought she'd have her finger in an anteater's bum.

Aurora
has a new found affinity for under the bed. She came down this morning
on the cat tree but when Beaker came over to say high she went under the
bed. After the dogs morning walk she was back in the closet.

She got up for an afternoon snack and I shared her buttermilk bowl. Mom
took the dogs for a walk and after she was under the bed. Mom didn't
know till she heard noises. I guess Aurora realized mom was close so she
left for the closet again.

Aurora
got up and pace around then had diarrhea. Could be some of the oral
meds catching up with her but we did stop those after she pooped. Also
probably too much buttermilk. Mom made her some soup with butter milk
and she made her some special ground meat,oat bran and powdered spinach
with buttermilk soup, as that has less flavor and smell than our normal
food. So she can have one or the other tonight. If she refuses both we
can stimulate her appetite again. She's got to go beyond the buttermilk.(fairly normal after being blocked up so long really).

I
got up for my treat but accidentally knocked the blanket down. Mom came
to return the blanket and I was all, no you don't, you can't go till we
snuggle.

I like to hug and hold with my hands and put my head
against her put the soles of my feet against her. Those are all the
major soul points. You can feel the love.

Oh last night mom was
reluctant to listen to me when I was telling her to get up so she tried
moving away. So I braved walking by the annoying butt sniffing Beaker
and found mom and laid over her back and hugged her and pinched her a
bit on and off. Then got my treat after and Aurora got fresh soup.

Fresh
blue cheese chia seed mix made up for me and some fresh bland soup made
up for Aurora. Mom did add just a tiny dollop of regular soup to it but
Aurora is expected not to notice. Mom also tried making her own
cultured buttermilk. She thinks it turned out good. Aurora will be the
judge of that.

I
didn't wake mom at all last night fora change but Aurora got hungry and
mom woke to her pacing at 6am and she got some fresh soup. She had
eaten a lot of soup from her chiller bowl though so she was good really.

We both have the washer for the day.

Well,she
hasn't pooped since she had diarrhea but that's normal for her. Well,
work on getting her to poop more often but that will take time to see
which adjustments do what.

We
got up early. Aurora ate and then we played some. Then I left her after
she went to eat more. Then Aurora cried because mom had the lights on
because she was working late so the lights got turned off and everyone
was happy.

We're
both in the washer today with a nice clean jungle blanket. We spent
some time playing in the closet last night. Oh and Aurora pooped last
night. So that's like 6 days since last time which is normal for her but
we want to change that to more normal for a normal anteater. Fiber
never helped in the past. Maybe some vitamin c?

These are old photos of Aurora's fist poop here, that I hadn't shared before. They were feeding her ant nests so essentially this is a wild anteater poop lots of dirt and ant bodies